New research predicts that the managed-services market will grow from $143 billion this year to $256 billion in 2018 — that's a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.4 percent.

The new report from MarketsandMarkets includes data for managed services fields that include data center, network, information, mobility, infrastructure, communications and security.

MarketsandMarkets says the "high-tech and telecommunication" vertical continues to be the largest adopter of managed services. Regionally, North America is expected to be the largest market in terms of revenue over the next five years, while Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa (MEA) regions are expected to experience increased market traction in the coming years.

Recent trends show a high demand for managed services across every industry vertical. The implementation of managed services reduces IT costs by 30 to 40 percent in the enterprises. This enables organizations to have the flexibility and technical advantage with them. Enterprises having their services outsourced look forward to risk sharing and to reduce their IT costs and IT commitments, so that they are able to concentrate on their core competencies, MarketsandMarkets said.

Organizations implementing managed services have reported almost a 50-60 percent increase in the operational efficiency of their outsourced processes. Newer managed services that penetrate almost all the industry domains, along with aggressive pricing in services, are being offered. This results in increase in the overall revenues of the managed services market.

MarketsandMarkets notes an increase in outsourcing of wireless, communications, mobility and other value-added services, such as content and e-commerce facilities. With increasing technological advancements and the cost challenges associated with having the IT services in-house, the future seems optimistic for application services providers and managed services providers, the researcher said.